Scotland Now Gets 1/3 of Its Power from Renewable Sources

Good news out of Scotland today: The nation is now 35% powered by renewable energy. Impressive, sure. But it also means that Scotland has hit an important milestone en route to its goal of getting 100% of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change statistics said the amount generated in Scotland rose by 45% last year to 13,750 Gigawatt hours (GWh). The Scottish government's target for 2011 was to meet 31% of the country's energy needs from renewables.

If consumption remains at the 2010 level, they will have accounted for 35% of electricity needs.

This does indeed bode well for its 2020 goal, which skeptics continue to hone in on (Remember, Scotland technically aims to get an "equivalent of 100% of its gross annual electricity demand met by renewables"). Government ministers insist that all is going to plan.

And as plans go, it's an inspirational one. Here's what I wrote in a previous post after attending a press conference with Scotland's first minister:

Scotland's push to become a leader in marine renewables (they're also seeking to deploy as much as 2 GW of wave and tidal power) is not just laudable, but could prove visionary indeed. The effort could prove a major boon to Scotland's economy, where wind could become a $30 billion dollar industry, according to forecasts from Scottish Enterprises.

And getting 35% of demand met with renewables is nothing to sneeze at—in fact, that makes Scotland a veritable leader in the arena. If only more nations would have such courage to confront its skeptics ...